Attendance Watch 2016-17

For those that crunch the numbers on the NHL, beyond the salary caps, a free agency calculations, the bottom line for many NHL teams comes from one simple thing, bottoms in the seats.

And this year like the last few of the past, there are some locations that are giving indications that hockey just isn't winning the battle for hearts, minds and wallets.

With Las Vegas now about to be welcomed to the NHL Club of member franchises and two more potential expansion franchises yet to be awarded, locations such as Quebec City, Seattle and Kansas City among others now look to get on the short list for that expansion, though they may also have an interest in going the relocation route should that option present itself.

At some time this season, someone is going to look at the listings of the NHL's trouble spots and
go, "how long can the league let this go on".


When they do, somebody somewhere will have a ready to go market up for consideration.

Once again this year, we will track the teams that some suggest are on the bubble, secure leadership or not, financially flush as they may say they are, no one likes to lose money, so we'll scan the attendance numbers through the year, looking for those bargain basement teams that could be looking for a relocation plan.

As last year, we shall use attendance at the 13,000 mark as our cut off for review.  Only those games that have drawn less than 13,000 or less in attendance will be listed below.

We also will list which team was in town as the visiting squad for the night, perhaps offering an explanation as to the night's recorded attendance.

The review can be accessed from our GM's office links on the right hand sidebar.

Attendance Figures as of January 6, 2017

Bottom Feeders (our three dim star selection)

The three teams with the lowest attendance, teams the most times below the 13,000 benchmark.

1. New York Islanders (13)
2. Carolina Hurricanes (13)
3. Arizona Coyotes (9)

The Breakdown by Franchise location

Arizona Coyotes (9)

December 21 -- 11,378 (Edmonton) (Event Summary)
December 19 -- 12,192 (Calgary) (Event Summary)
December 8 -- 10,210 (Calgary) (Event Summary)
December 3 -- 11,287 (Columbus) (Event Summary)
December 1 -- 11,327 (Los Angeles) (Event Summary)
November 23 -- 11,256 (Vancouver) (Event Summary)
November 10 -- 11,185 (Winnipeg) (Event Summary)
November 3 -- 10,745 (Nashville) (Event Summary)
November 1 -- 11,046 (San Jose) (Event Summary)

Carolina Hurricanes (13)

January 3 -- 8,998 (New Jersey) (Event Summary)
December 23 -- 12,924 (Boston) (Event Summary)
December 17 -- 11,682 (Buffalo) (Event Summary)
December 16 -- 11,892 (Washington) (Event Summary)
December 13 -- 11,721 (Vancouver) (Event Summary)
December 4 -- 11,521 -- (Tampa Bay) (Event Summary)
November 27 -- 8,124 (Florida) (Event Summary)
November 20 -- 10,809 (Winnipeg) (Event Summary)
November 18 -- 12,101 (Montreal) (Event Summary)
November 15 -- 8,932 (San Jose) ( Event Summary)
November 12 --12,436 (Washington) (Event Summary)
November 10 -- 8,086 (Anaheim) (Event Summary)
November 6 -- 8,650 (New Jersey) (Event Summary)

Colorado Avalanche (3)

December 1 -- 12,141 (Columbus) (Event Summary)
November 29 -- 12, 082 (Nashville) (Event Summary)
November 1 -- 12,141 (Nashville) (Event Summary)

Columbus Blue Jackets (6)

December 5 -- 11,091 (Arizona) (Event Summary)
November 29 -- 10,366 (Tampa Bay) (Event Summary)
November 21 -- 10,063 (Colorado) (Event Summary)
November 15 -- 11,738 (Washington) (Event Summary)
November 9 -- 10,250 (Anaheim) (Event Summary)
November 1 -- 10,141 (Dallas) (Event Summary)

Florida Panthers (4)

November 10 -- 11,703 (San Jose) (Event Summary)
November 7 -- 11,703 (Tampa Bay) (Event Summary)
November 3 -- 11,597 (New Jersey) ( Event Summary)
October 20 -- 12,440 (Washington) (Event Summary)

New Jersey Devils  (2)

November 8 -- 12,179 (Carolina) (Event Summary)
October 25 -- 12,756 (Phoenix) (Event Summary)

New York Islanders (13)

December 15 -- 12,504 (Chicago) (Event Summary)
December 13 -- 12,730 (Washington) (Event Summary)
December 8 -- 11,178 (St. Louis) (Event Summary)
November 30 -- 12,149 (Pittsburgh) (Event Summary)
November 28 -- 10,772  (Calgary) (Event Summary)
November 14 -- 12,498 (Tampa Bay) (Event Summary)
November 7 -- 12,514 (Vancouver) (Event Summary)
November 3 -- 11,119 (Philadelphia) (Event Summary)
November 1 -- 10,822 (Tampa Bay) (Event Summary)
October 30 -- 12,057 (Toronto) (Event Summary)
October 26 -- 12,194 (Montreal) (Event Summary)
October 23 -- 11,583 (Minnesota) (Event Summary)
October 18 -- 10,722 (San Jose) (Event Summary)

Ottawa Senators (1)

October 18 -- 11,061 (Phoenix) (Event Summary)